Rivers and reefs on their spawning run
Ben Stack

In November, barramundi get a rest from fishers right through until 1 February due to the closed season for this species. The barramundi will be spawning at river mouths and headlands as the weather builds up in the Cape. As the storm cells brew and the weather becomes unbearably hot, a lot of other ocean and river species will be on their spawning run.

This calendar month marks the official opening of cyclone season. You may be lucky to get a few more camping trips in at this time of year. Be prepared for some seriously hot days and nights, and also an odd storm that may drop a lot of rain really fast, which can leave you stuck until it dries again.

There were good opportunities to get out to the reefs over the last few weeks with the winds being only a slight breeze at worst. Reports of quality coral trout catches have been coming in thick by a large number of boats who went out at these times. Get out on the rubble to find the big reds once you’ve got trout. Don’t forget our coral reef fish closures on 28 October to 1 November, and 26-30 November.

When you’re out there, send out a floater for the Spaniards while bottom fishing. This method for catching Spanish mackerel still seems to be the most effective at the moment. This time last year, we had hundreds of juvenile black marlin schooling up in our shipping channel straight out the front, so it’s definitely worth a try for billfish on light gear for some fun and great photos.

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